Again
by Gleevengers98
Summary: What happens when a mission hits a little too close to home for Agent Romanoff? And why did her and Barton bring home an eight year old from said mission? Clintasha friendship/romance in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own S.H.I.E.L.D or any of its wonderful agents. However my OC is mine!

Again

Chapter 1: The Mission

Russia, January 31, 2008

"You okay, Tasha?" Clint asked. Natasha nodded without turning to look at him. He'd been worried about his partner ever since it they were told they were going on a mission in Russia. The new leader of the Red Room had issued a threat directed at S.H.I.E.L.D. It was decided that Natasha would be the one sent to Russia to deal with him since she knew the most about their target. After hearing about the target Clint had refused to let Natasha go alone and volunteered himself to go with her. They were immediately briefed on the details and once the location of the Red Room's safe house was identified, they were on a quinjet heading there.

Natasha had been silent the entire ride there, lost in her own thoughts. The last time she had been in Russia, she had killed the last head of the Red Room. The man that had taught her to kill, who took away her childhood. The man who had turned her into a monster. She wondered if Clint hadn't been sent to kill her when he had, if she would be the one who S.H.I.E.L.D had sent agents to kill.

She felt Clint place a hand on her shoulder. If anyone knew what was running through her mind, it was Clint. He had heard about all that had happened before she came to S.H.I.E.L.D. He knew that she'd rather be anyplace but here. That is why he made sure he came on this mission with her. He wanted to be there to support and comfort her. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.

The pilot announced that they were five minutes away from their landing site. Clint and Natasha mentally prepared themselves to kill like they did before every mission. They cleared themselves of all emotions as every good agent did. Clint picked his sheath of arrows and bow up from the floor as they began their descent. Hopefully this would be quick, neither of them wanted to be in Russia for very long.

The jet landed and Clint and Natasha exited before it took off again. They saw the building where their target was thought to be living and began to make their way to it, walking in the shadows of the buildings surrounding it. As they approached the back entrance, they saw that the building was surrounded men who were heavily armed. Clint raised his bow and sent an arrow through ones heart, alerting the rest to their presence. Natasha shot the two closest to them in the head while Clint sent arrows through the two behind them. Within minutes, they were all taken down. The prepares themselves to enter when a voice sounded from the window of the building.

"That was a great performance but I'm afraid that is as far as I can let you two get," their target spoke. Natasha raised her gun to take care of him but she then noticed what he was holding.

"Clint, he's got a detonator," she said under her breath drawing his attention to the device he was holding as well.

"That's right, I have this whole building wired to explode if you try to continue your mission, one push of this button and you'll be dead," he said calmly. "So, I suggest you get out of here."

Natasha contemplated the amount of time it would take for head bullet to implant itself in his head versus the amount of time it would take for him to react and press the button. She came up with a plan to catch him off guard and communicated it to Clint in the nonverbal way only he'd understand. She lowered her gun and Clint lowed his bow.

"Good choice," the man said. Natasha quickly raised her gun and took the shot but not before the button was pressed. They were blown off their feet with the force of the explosion. They landed roughly against the cold ground below them. Neither felt any substantial injuries and Clint called S.H.I.E.L.D to report their mission successful and was told the quinjet would be there to pick them up in 30 minutes. He helped Natasha to her feet and they began to head to where they would be picked up and then a bloodcurdling scream sounded from the building that was burning to the ground. Clint turned to look at Natasha and was greeted with his partners fearful expression.

"What's wrong, Nat?" Clint asked worriedly.

"There's a kid still in that house," she answered before running towards the burning building. Clint watched her go with a shocked expression before coming to his senses and running after her.

She didn't know what had possessed to run but didn't stop to think about it as she heard another agonizing cry come from near the window closest to her. She carefully climbed through the flaming window and saw a young girl fighting to make her way to the window but failing miserably. Natasha skillfully avoided the large flames while making her way over to the girl. The girl looked at her pitifully before falling to her knees. Natasha caught her around the waist before she hit the ground. She picked the girl up and carried her back towards the window where Clint was waiting. He saw the girl in Natasha's arms and held out his arms to take her. Natasha carefully passed her to Clint and climbed out after them. Clint placed the child on the ground as she began to wheeze from smoke inhalation. He looked at Natasha and the look she gave him back told him everything. They were going to take in this girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm just going to go ahead and apologize for the quality of this chapter. It is certainly not the best thing I've ever written. it's just that I've just started high school (I'm a freshman) and i have to adjust to the workload before i can regulate updates and stuff. R&R is much appreciated. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: The Avengers are not mine no matter how much I pray for them to be.

Chapter 2: The Girl

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, February 2, 2008

She woke up and didn't know where she was. That was never good. She could hear two people arguing in English and instinctively reached for one of the several knives that she usually kept with her at all times. Her eyes snapped open when she found that they weren't there. She hoped she could go unnoticed but as soon as her eyes opened, the two that were talking turned to look at her. A woman with flaming red hair walked up to kneel beside her bed and began to talk to her in Russian.

"I'm Natasha, what is your name?" She asked her quietly.

"Katya," she answered shortly. She heard someone else walk up next to her and saw a man with an eyepatch and a frown on his face.

"Does she speak English?" The man asked.

"Yes, I do," she replied with a slight Russian accent.

"How old are you?" Natasha asked.

"I'm eight," she replied softly. There was something about the redhead that was vaguely familiar. Then it hit her, this was the woman who saved her back at home.

"Why were there four knives in your possession when we found you?" The guy with the eyepatch asked. He scared her but she would never admit it.

"Just in case," she said with a wince as she began to notice the pain in her body.

"In case of what?" The man asked again. She didn't know this man. She also didn't trust him and trust was very important to her. Natasha noticed her discomfort and gave him a look telling him to be quiet. Katya's eyes began to droop and Natasha got up.

"Go to sleep," Natasha said in Russian before grabbing the man and leaving the room. Katya fell to sleep contemplating what it was about the woman that made her feel like she knew exactly what she had gone through.

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When she awoke for the second time, she felt that she was being watched. What she had not expected was for a man to fall gracefully from the vents across the room. The man stared at her for a second before smiling and walking forward.

"I'm Agent Clint Barton, Natasha and I found you," he said. Katya nodded jerkily. She didn't want to think about that just yet.

"Where are we?" She asked him.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to tell you but I like breaking rules. We are on the helicarrier. It's the headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D," Clint replied. S.H.I.E.L.D, that sounded familiar. She thought she remembered her father talk about them once or twice.

"Where's the girl that was here earlier?" Katya asked.

"I think she went down to the training room for a little bit, she'll probably be by later though." Katya studied this man carefully. He seemed nice but there was something about him that made her a bit nervous. Maybe it was the fact that he had the ability to catch her off guard, which was not an easy feat. Still, she hasn't seen anything about him that suggested he was here to kill her.

"Why were you in the vents?" She asked. He chuckled and turned his gaze towards his favorite hiding place.

"It's a lot easier to see everything I need to from up there," the man responded. He could see that this girl was sizing him up and took the opportunity to do the same. Her body language suggested that, while she wasn't particularly enjoying his presence, she wasn't alarmed by it either. "Plus it's always fun to interrupt Fury's meeting by falling from the ceiling and freaking out everyone in the room."

"Is Fury the guy with the eyepatch?" The girl questioned.

"Yep, that's him. He's my boss and a scary dude," Clint responded with a playful smile. She could see in his eyes that he was reading her and that he knew she was doing the same.

"He must be your boss, bosses are always scariest. No matter how scary a person is, their boss is always scarier. Especially my dad's boss," the look in the agent's eyes stopped her in her track. She just revealed something important. When her dad's boss found her, she would be punished. Severely.

"Katya, what made your dad's boss so scary?" Clint asked carefully.

"Things will only be worse off for me if I tell you that," Katya replied emotionlessly.

"Worse how?"

"My punishment will be even worse when he finds me," she replied with a touch of fear.

"Whoever it is, he won't find you. The agents here won't let him," the man responded.

"He will find me, he always does."

**So, what'd you think? R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow! I think this is my quickest update ever! I would like to thank those who sent me such nice reviews. I hope those people got my PM but for the guest that reviewed this story, if you're reading this, thank you for your nice review. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Avengers are not mine.**

He hadn't known what to expect when he went to talk to the girl that he had helped rescue. He had thought that she would be like most of the other children they had run into during missions, understandably scared but trusting. What he was greeted with instead was a child who had lost her innocence or rather it had been stolen. To see an eight year old so sure of her imminent torture, it was unnerving to say the least. He walked into Natasha's room, where she was tapping something into her S.H.I.E.L.D issued laptops.

"Hey, Tash, what you looking at?" Clint asked as he took a seat next to her on the bed. He was alarmed as he turned to look at her with tears in her eyes.

"Read this," she said handing him her laptop. She had pulled up Katya's S.H.I.E.L.D file.

"Wait, an eight year old has a file?" He asked, stunned. They only had files there for potential threats. "What did she do, steal an ice cream cone?"

"Just read it," his partner said tearily. He turned to check on her once more. She nodded that she was okay and led his attention back to the screen. Katya E. Anosov, suspected agent, Red Room, seen countless times luring men into various hotels where they are usually found dead the next day. Clint stared at the screen in shock.

"I guess they start even younger now," Natasha said, breaking the disbelieving silence that hung over the room. "Even I didn't start assignments until I was at least twelve."

"Do you think this is accurate?" Clint asked quietly. Natasha nodded her head.

"Honestly, I think it is. Poor girl..." Natasha said with a sad shake of her head. She can't imagine being sent out into the field and doing the things that the Red Room trained young girls to do at age eight. She was barely able to handle doing it now. She leaned her head onto her partners shoulder and he ran his fingers through his hair.

"You don't have to take her in Tasha. I know how much this is hurting you," he whispered soothingly into her ear. Her eyes fluttered closed at the sincerity in his words.

"I know I don't but I want to. Will you go with me to talk to her tomorrow?" She asked her partner. He sensed that she needed his support.

"Of course," he answered, kissing the top of her head. He had made a promise on their first mission together to always stand by her side when she needed him to and right now was no exception. "I'll always go with you."

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They stood outside the door to the room that S.H.I.E.L.D had issued the little girl once she had recovered from her injuries, hand and hand.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Clint asked his partner hesitantly. Talking to Katya last time had certainly been hard and this time was going to be even more intense. Natasha took a deep breath and nodded. Clint took her hand, pushing open the door.

Katya was asleep when they entered, muttering words under her breath. Natasha made to go and wake the girl up but as her footsteps got closer, Katya's voice got louder until they heard that she was pleading under her breath for someone only she could see to stop.

"Katya, can you wake up for me?" Clint asked. He'd woken Natasha from many of what he assumed, but hoped weren't, similar dreams. He reached out to comfort her but she flinched away from the contact. He'd have to be firmer then.

"Katya!" He said louder. The girl woke with a scream and then burst into tears. Natasha was by her side in an instant offering whispered assurances and rubbing circles into the little girl's back. She looked taken aback by the gestures at first but gave in to the side of her that needed the nurturing of another human being. She allowed herself to be gathered into Natasha's arms as she cried for all the times she had had no one there to comfort her after the nightmares. When she had finally gotten herself together, she pulled away from Natasha and looked at her curiously.

"Why'd you do all that for me when you didn't even know me?" She asked, confusion evident on her face.

"I may not know you, but I know what you've been through," Natasha told the girl with a sad smile on her face.

"I don't deserve for people to help me," she replied turning away from them as fresh tears began to roll down her face. 'Pathetic' she thought to herself. 'Stop being a baby, suck it up.' Natasha could see the inner hatred on her face.

"Katya, nothing that happened to you was your fault," she spoke softly. "You just became associated with the wrong people. Yes, what they were training you to do was awful," Katya bowed her head in shame, "but it's not your fault you were put in your position and forced to do the things you did." Katya looked up once more.

"How do you know?" She asked curiously. The woman before her smiled softly.

"Because I used to think the same thing. Until I found someone who was there to remind me that it wasn't," Natasha answered, squeezing Clint's hand. He smiled at her and squeezed back.

"I don't have anyone like that," she said quietly. Natasha looked the girl over carefully before making an internal decision.

"You do now."

**Please review! It makes me write faster!**


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